For many years personal computers have had hot key functionality. At the BIOS level, this hot key functionality has been provided by the BIOS program code burned into a program chip and read into the computer each time the computer starts up. The term “hot key” refers to a key press or a combination of key presses used to call and execute a predefined function on the computer. For example, the combination of the control “Ctrl”, “Alt”, and “Del” keys pressed during POST (Power-On-Self-Test). The combination of keystrokes that are defined for a given hot key function become a part of the BIOS program and are burned into the BIOS chip.
A BIOS program designer would thus have to discuss the desired hot keys with a client requesting the BIOS program. The BIOS hot key definitions would then be programmed into the BIOS program and burned into the BIOS chip. In the past, there was no capability to reprogram the BIOS hot key definitions after the BIOS chip is burned. If it became desirable to add additional hot keys or change hot keys that have been already defined and burned into the BIOS chip, it was not possible to add or change hot keys.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.